New city planned for Indonesia

Indonesian firm Lippo Group has announced plans to build a US$21 billion industrial city near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

It is believed the Meikarta project – which will include hotels, retail outlets and educational establishments – will primarily play host to companies from the automotive and electronics industries.

The Lippo Group has already announced partnerships with Japanese car manufactuers Mitsubishi Group and Toyota, as well as the housebuilder Sanko Soflan Holdings.

The first stage of the city’s development will cover around 22 million m2, and be located to the east of Jakarta, in the corridor between the capital and the West Java city of Bandung.

Lippo Group’s CEO, James Riady, said in a press conference, “This corridor has become the industrial centre of Indonesia. More than one million cars, 10 million motorcycles and millions of refrigerators and air conditioners are produced there every year.”

He went on to say other firms, including Astra, Honda, Suzuki, Hankook and Samsung had shown interest in occupying the new development.

In a company statement, Lippo said it would finance the construction of the city from its own capital, with loans and also from pre-sales of site properties, some of which will start later this month.